Glam Media Buys Ad Targeter AdaptiveAds

David Kaplan

Jan. 29, 2009 - 3:08 AM PST
Jan. 29, 2009 - 3:08 AM PST

Female-focused ad net Glam Media has acquired online ad optimizer AdaptiveAds. Terms weren’t disclosed. The three-year-old AA is backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and has offices in San Francisco and Mumbai, India. In conjunction with the purchase, Glam Media is opening an office in Mumbai and establishing an engineering presence in Pune, India. This is Glam’s first acquisition in about half a year.

The company had been on an acquisitions tear in the early part of ’08, as Glam CEO Samir Arora looked to quickly build an international presence by adding Munich-based digital marketing firm Codex Media and London-based online ad sales rep firm Montise. Aside from the European focus, it turned its attention to Asia, unveiling Glam Japan in November. While the display market has slowed considerably, Arora has maintained that its vertical ad networks haven’t been as impacted as others. Back in February last year, Glam raised a huge $84.6 million–$64.6 million in fourth round venture funding and $20 million in revenue-based debt financing….a major portion of it was to be used for international expansion, the company said then.

As for AdaptiveAds, the company is working to integrate its self-serve ad tracking tools into its own online brand campaign platform, Glam Media Evolution. Venturebeat says that by the end of ’08, AdaptiveAds was trying to raise between $5- and $10 million funding at a pre-money valuation of between $25 and $40 million. It secured $3.5 million in two rounds over the past three years from DFJ and angel investors. Release